-
Branson: Behind the Mask
Tom Bower is that rare thing – a writer who takes no prisoners. He goes where others fear to tread – or at least UK libel laws force others to fear to tread. His previous subjects have included Robert Maxwell, Bernie Ecclestone, Mohammed Al-Fayed and a previous book on Richard Branson. I’ve not read the…
-
TV Apps’ Shortcomings
You know when something should be easy but it just isn’t? Well this is what I often find with apps on smart TVs and other devices. They’re just there to try us. While they function adequately for normal use, it’s those edge cases where they break. Here are two examples. Last weekend, I decided I’d…
-
Twitter Notifications
The other day I was seething about my inability to turn off a particular type of Twitter notification in the Twitter Android app. I’m talking about ones that say something like “@user1 and @user2 are talking about #subject” and urging me to join the conversation. My problem is that these just aren’t intelligent. If there…
-
Changing From Real Radio to Heart Mightn’t Be All Plain Sailing
Aside from the publication of new RAJAR figures, the big news in radio today was the sale of seven stations by Global, which was forced on them by the Competition Commission. Since Global finally gave up their legal challenges against the Commission’s ruling, this day was always coming, and it’s got to be of some…
-
RAJAR Q4 2013
If it’s early February, it means it’s time for another RAJAR release. So what are the big stories? Well I reckon they Radio 2, Radio 1 and commercial radio in general in London are the main themes. But let’s go through things in a bit more detail. National The first thing to note is that…
-
Blaze Laserlight – A First Look
Back in November 2012, I backed my first Kickstarter project – the Blaze Bike Light – and today it arrived fresh from manufacture in China. Blaze Laserlight – A First Look from Adam Bowie on Vimeo. Now known as the Blaze Laserlight, its description basically explains what it does. It’s a regular bike light with…
-
Muting Twitter
The other day I moaned about what I consider a shortcoming in the current Twitter Android app – the inability to turn off notifications that tell you that some people you follow are discussing something. I might be missing out! I should get on Twitter right now seems to be the idea. That could be…
-
Blockbusters and Sleepless In Hollywood
If it feels to you, as it does to me, that there are an ever greater number of superhero and other franchise films clogging up cinemas, then you’d be right. And these two books explain pretty well between them what’s happening in Hollywood and beyond. Indeed, it’s the “beyond” that is really driving this. Blockbusters…
-
Why DAB Radio in the UK Isn’t Broken and Doesn’t Need Fixing
A bold title, I think. But read on for the reason. There’s a Techradar piece – Why DAB in the the UK is broken, and how to fix it – that recently got a certain amount of traction and lots of retweeting amongst radio types. But it really needs some robust countering. I half expected…
-
LBC Going National
The news today that LBC is going to be broadcast nationally from next month is really good for lots of reasons. Here are just a few: – It’s good for LBC. The station must be a reasonably expensive service to run since speech is always more expensive to do well than music. And a greater…
-
Things I Can Live Without in 2014
Life’s too short. So in 2014 I will mostly* be living without the following: Awards Ceremonies I exclude any awards that I might be nominated for- unlikely though that is. What I means is Oscars, Brits, Grammys, Comedy Awards, Television Awards etc. The only one I’ll miss is perhaps the BAFTAs although the fact that…
-
Twitter Notifications
[Note: I’m on the Twitter beta programme, so this may be a beta-only problem.] A recent update to the Twitter app (I’m using the Android version) has resulted in the most pointlessly annoying thing Twitter has done in a long time. Twitter is trying to be smart, and is pro-actively sending notifications to tell me…
Podcasts, Radio, TV, Books, Cycling, Photography and More
-
Yellowface/All The Lovers In The Night
Yellowface by R F Kuang I first came across R F Kuang with last year’s very enjoyable Babel, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals. Yellowface is very different, but no less enjoyable. It’s a book about books, and…
Hadrian’s Wall
Check out some of my other photography
